The Wire. The Sopranos. Breaking Bad. Mad Men. These are genuinely considered to be the four best television series of all-time. What do they have in common? They all either aired on HBO or AMC, and they’re all live-action dramas. The Sopranos was a very funny show at times, but the humor was overshadowed by the panic attacks. More often than not, comedies are left out of the best shows discussion, as is anything animated. And if you’re an animated comedy (not named The Simpsons)? Forget it.
The Game of Thrones showrunners are not here for this cartoon snobbery.
In a joint interview with Deadline, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were asked what they think is the greatest series ever. After going through the usual candidates — the first two shows mentioned: The Sopranos and The Wire — the Emmy winners said, “Everyone always talks about those, and it’s hard to say anything that hasn’t been said before and said better. And that’s not even touching on the cartoons. Don’t get us started on the cartoons.”
Let’s get started on the cartoons.
Working on a drama 363 days a year really makes us appreciate animation. Because you know what it’s not? Live action drama.
On which we spend 363 days a year.
At least once, one of us went on a long, drunken rant about why Adventure Time was the best TV series ever made. Unfortunately, we can’t remember the specifics of that rant, but it’s entirely possible that it was correct. South Park has maintained its high level of excellence for much longer than should be possible. Rick and Morty is one of the funniest, smartest things ever put on TV; every one of its 22-minute plots is more ambitious than 99% of the science fiction films that will be made in the next ten years. (Via Deadline)
Benioff and Weiss could have given a stale answer to a subjective question (“We love anything on HBO… can we get our bags of money now?”). Instead, they reacted the same way I do when I’m drunk: yell about how great Rick and Morty and Adventure Time are, and then get really depressed thinking about how sad Adventure Time is, too. (That show is emotional whiplash.)
Now be sure to complain about everything they didn’t mention.
(Via Deadline)
